Trailer-park owner seeks parish council seat

BAYOU BLUE -- A fresh look at parish government is what trailer-park owner and political newcomer Peggy Guidroz hopes to bring to the Lafourche Parish Council.

Guidroz, 55, will vie with incumbent Mark Atzenhoffer and fellow challenger Albert Martin for the District 5 council seat this fall. The district includes all of lower Bayou Blue and several surrounding neighborhoods stretching to La. 1. A 55-year-old mother of two grown children, Guidroz, a Democrat, has never run for elected office.

With her husband Nolan, Guidroz owns and operates the Eschete Trailer Park off Bayou Blue Road.

The couple has lived in Bayou Blue for 31 years.

She cited accessibility as one of the main attributes she plans on bringing to the council.

"If you need help, call me, thatís what Iím going to be there for, to help the parish, to help the community," she said.

The appeal of learning the ins and outs of government and politics is also behind the former medical assistantís decision to seek a seat on the council, she said.

"Iím new at it, I donít have a heads up on how it operates," said Guidroz, who holds an associatesí degree from Phillips College in New Orleans. "To me it would be a great learning experience and to help the people of area."

Maintaining and repairing parish roads and property are the main issues Guidroz said the council should address.

"Theyíve been bouncing that back and forth for a couple of years now," she said of proposed repairs to neighborhood streets in District 5. "Why does it take so long to have something done? It seems like they go a little overboard sometimes."

The election is Oct. 20, and Parish Council seats are among the local, parish and state candidates on the ballot. If no candidate gets more than half the votes cast in the primary, the top two finishers will compete in a Nov. 17 runoff.

Candidates will sign-up, or "qualify," Sept. 4-6 with the Lafourche Parish Clerk of Courtís Office.

Robert Zullo can be reached at 850-1150 or robert.zullo@houmatoday.com.